<p>So, I'm applying RD. I pretty much know I have no chance, but my mom is telling me to apply anyways (I'm not being forced. Harvard is my dream school). I got rejected from Penn ED, but I'm wondering how Harvard would view my grades since they receive my first semester grades of senior year (and Penn didn't).</p>
<p>Basically, here's my GPA and rigor by year:</p>
<p>My optional essay discusses how my parents' sudden divorce the week before my freshman year kinda turned me into a cynical, unmotivated adolescent, and then by junior year I grew up and had a realization (thus explaining why I tried harder all of a sudden)...</p>
<p>My total UW GPA is ~3.6 and my rank is only 33/424. My SAT super-scored is a 2220 and I have a 720 and a 740 on 2 Subject tests, so my SATs aren't concerning me. My ECs are above-average, so my GPA and rank are the only things concerning me at this point...</p>
<p>There’s you. And then there are twenty clones of you. Except they have a higher GPA. And there’s two slots. </p>
<p>“Upward trend” is not a factor in Harvard’s application pool, really.</p>
<p>Apply if you must. I would recommend against it. Don’t count on it frankly. Make sure your target list has some great schools you’ll love and can afford.</p>
<p>As you guessed, the continuation of the upward trend with an increasingly difficult schedule can only help your case.</p>
<p>Edit: Saw T2’s post. I don’t know what he thinks you’ll lose by applying… I agree your chances are slim, especially since “above average” extracurriculars doesn’t signify all that much in a pool where only the top 6-7% get admitted. He seems to think, however, that something can be gained from not applying? You’re not so bad that the likelihood of rejection doesn’t outweigh the benefit of not having to wonder “what if”</p>
<p>Meh, I don’t feel like typing them. They’re nothing extraordinary, but I’m positive they are above average in the Harvard applicant pool. That being said, I doubt they would be good enough to counteract my detrimental GPA…</p>
<p>Regarding the higher-than-valedictorian now thing, your guidance counselor’s letter will also reflect that, right? If he/she’s convincing, that will help a lot. (I assume the two of you have talked since you got rejected from Penn, yes? If not, that could be valuable.)</p>
<p>No, my guidance counselor is awful. I told her I got rejected from Penn, and her response was “okay.” She literally knows nothing about Ivy League admissions.</p>
<p>You don’t seem to understand. I don’t care what people tell me. I’m going to apply. Also, I’m not going to experience the disappointment of rejection since I have the expectation of rejection. I would not apply if I saw it as a financial burden upon my family, but my mom is ENCOURAGING me to apply, and is more than willing to pay for the application and score report. So, in reality, I have nothing to lose…</p>
<p>Sam, I did encourage D1 to apply to a school I knew was a huge stretch, an Ivy, but it had a super program in her major and she would have been an enthusiastic student who made contributions. She just didn’t perfectly match the profile. She got rejected and didn’t mind. Never looked back. Her real first choice was another school, where she is now and is happy.
I do think there are too many kids hoping lightning will strike at some college with a huge rep- but in your case, what the hey? IIRC, you do have an interesting main EC. Sorry about Penn.</p>
<p>I do think that what you have to lose is basically $85.50, plus a little bit of time. If you think you won’t feel discouraged by a rejection, OK. I would be hurt, but I won’t presume to know you better than you know yourself. What I don’t understand is why you’d apply if you feel sure you’ll be rejected. But I don’t buy lottery tickets, either.</p>
<p>I understand that you’re applying to Harvard regardless of what I say. It just doesn’t change what I’d tell you if you were my kid. And, for the record, I didn’t tell my daughter she couldn’t apply to Harvard; I just didn’t encourage it.</p>
<p>Oh, I don’t try to encourage people to apply. But, as a student and not a parent, I’d rather have lost the $70 for a rejection than not known (…although I thought it was <$50 when I applied?! I don’t know whether it’s gone up by a ton in three years or I am very much misremembering.) So I don’t agree with actively discouraging people who aren’t clearly not capable of doing the work/have no extracurriculars at all from applying.</p>
<p>Yep. I know my chances are pretty much nonexistent, but I’d feel awful if I just gave up and didn’t apply.</p>
<p>@Sikorsky</p>
<p>Well, your a more rational parent than my my mom is…I literally have to remind her about my freshman/sophomore grades every time she brings up Harvard, because she’s so convinced that I have a good shot at admissions…</p>
<p>exult wrote: "So I don’t agree with actively discouraging people who aren’t clearly not capable of doing the work/have no extracurriculars at all from applying. "</p>
<p>Hopefully you’ll get involved in alumni recruiting/interviewing once you graduate exult. I’ve found it to be very rewarding.</p>
<p>I think you’ll also find that sitting on the other side of the table (as a Harvard representative), you’ll find an enormous range of people who inquire – that’s how it is. Knowing that H and my alma mater have a less about a 7% admit rate, I find it impossible to say “you gotta apply to my school! It’s so awesome!”</p>
<p>While I agree with the 2nd statement, I tell audiences this statement: “By and large, if you are one of a handful of the top scholars in your school, known by the teachers and the principal as well, then you might be a viable candidate.” By implication, if they aren’t then they aren’t viable in my opinion.</p>
<p>It’s a statement I heard an actual admissions officer say and I think it’s a fair warning. Frankly I don’t encourage anyone without really counting the costs of what it will take to apply. I thank them profusely, don’t get me wrong – I’m an avid salesman. But there is no glory in having an additional 1000 applications this season so my school’s admit rate dips below seven percent.</p>
<p>Well then, I suppose it’s a good thing that I’m one of the top scholars in my school, and that I’m known and loved by all of my teachers and the principal…</p>